The Turkish Airlines Lounge in Nairobi (NBO) is an excellent out-station lounge with a lovely selection of food and drink plus kind service.
Turkish Airlines Lounge Nairobi Review (NBO)
I find that Turkish Airiness lounges outside of Istanbul vary in terms of quality. For example, the Washington Dulles lounge is great while the Bangkok lounge is quite disappointing. Thus, I was excited to visit this lounge and see how it stacked up.
Location + Hours + Access
Let me warn you that it will take some time and steps to reach this lounge. While it is worth the walk, I was mildly shocked at just how long of a walk it was to get from Terminal 1A where my flight was departed (and from where you enter the terminal from passport control and security) to Terminal 1E, where this lounge is located. Plan on a 10-15 minutes if you are walking at a very brisk pace.
Signs clearly mark the path, but you will walk…and walk…and walk. NBO is in the midst of a refresh and I passed a lot of empty and unfinished gate areas before coming to an area that looked almost like an industrial warehouse. However, keep going and you will eventually reach the lounge.
The lounge is open 24/7 and available to business class passengers and Star Alliance Gold members traveling on any Star Alliance flight. It is also a Priority Pass lounge, which is how I entered when flying on Kenya Airways.
I reached there around 11:30 am and found only a few other guests in the lounge.
Seating
The lounge includes one very large room with rows of seats and a sleeping room, which I will detail below. Every chair has a table within reach and power ports (UK style) are also easily within reach of most chairs, although the round tables do not have any ports on them or around them.
The lounge was clean and full of natural light.
Sleeping Room (Quiet Zone)
Behind a curtain adjacent to the bar was another, smaller room that was darkened and intended for travelers who wished to rest. As this is a 24/7 lounge and many have long layovers, I bet this room proves quite popular later in the day. There was one man snoring quite loudly in here, who I labored not to disturb (you can see his socks in one of the pictures below). The room has chairs with ottomans, but no actual beds.
Kid’s Area
In the rear of the lounge is a small kids area with three stools and two TVs, plus a DVD player.
Food + Drink
Food and soft drinks are served buffet style while alcoholic beverages and coffee are served by staff. Staff were preparing the buffet for lunch, which included hot dishes like rice, collared drinks, and chicken as well salads, sandwiches, fruit, cookies, and pastries.
Self-serve drinks included soda (Coca Cola products in glass bottles, including Fanta), water, and beer
Behind the bar, barista-made coffee and alcoholic beverages were available, including a number of spirts (and bottled Sangria), but no Champagne or even sparkling wine that I saw.
Coffee was excellent: I enjoyed my flat white.
Service
The ladies in this lounge were lovely. From the moment I stepped in, they were welcoming, friendly, and hospitable. They were proud of their lounge and happy for me to take pictures, which is not always the case.
Restrooms + Showers
Both clean restrooms and shower suites are available.
CONCLUSION
I enjoyed this lounge, particularly the cup of coffee, and look forward to returning. The staff were superb and the selection of food and drinks respectable. You’ll need to leave 10-15 minutes in each direction to walk to this lounge (at a brisk pace), but it is worth the walk.
NBO has been under construction/renovation for the last 35 years (at least). The best thing that happened was when it burned down in 2013, so they then had to do something about the (lack of) progress.
I will say that during my visit they were actively at work and the refurbished gate areas are quite nice. When I return this summer I will see what sort of progress has been made.
Were you able to visit again this past summer? Any updates?
My summer trip was canceled.
Matthew lucky you – a daytime visit with nobody there. If you try again in the evening, it’s absolutely mobbed with multiple overnight flights to Europe. My favorite lounge, for ironic purposes, was the British Airways “lounge” which was a card table set up with snacks and bottles, catered from a local hotel. This was inside the double-sterile pre-boarding area after you passed the second security screen, with no access to toilets. Those were the days!
The renovation at Concourse B and C are meant to bring them to the same level with 1A. It’s amazing that we are getting a fancier upgrade. I flew last month from this terminal and it felt so airy and amazing……The next time you’re in Nairobi hola up, greatest fan here
How did you find the quality of the food?
I did not eat anything. Just coffee.